HBO Disavows Trump’s Reference to ‘Game of Thrones’ Trademark Phrase

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President Trump, pictured at a rally in West Virginia, tweeted out a reference to “Game of Thrones” on Friday. HBO asked that its trademark phrase be kept out of politics.CreditCreditGabriella Demczuk for The New York Times

To promote his administration’s decision to reimpose sanctions on Iran, President Trump turned Friday to the wildly popular television show “Game of Thrones.”

In a tweet that featured a cinematic poster with a steely depiction of the president, he included the words “Sanctions Are Coming.” That phrase mimicked one from the show, “Winter Is Coming,” a foreboding line that warns of a deep freeze that will herald an army of the undead from the north to conquer other lands.

HBO responded to Mr. Trump with a message of its own: Keep us out of it.

“We were not aware of this messaging and would prefer our trademark not be misappropriated for political purposes,” an HBO spokesman, Quentin Schaffer, said in a statement.

HBO’s official statement came after a dose of snark on Twitter in response to Mr. Trump’s tweet. “How do you say trademark misuse in Dothraki?” the company wrote. (Dothraki is a language spoken by a group of nomadic warriors, also called Dothraki, in “Game of Thrones.”)

Two members of the “Thrones” cast gave personal reactions of distaste. Sophie Turner, the English actress who plays Sansa Stark in the show, replied to Mr. Trump’s tweet with a blunt “Ew.” And Maisie Williams, an English actress who plays Sansa’s sister, Arya Stark, responded, “Not today.”

The White House press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday evening.

Politicians have referred to the trademark phrase before. In 2015, Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, tweeted “Big News Is Coming” to foreshadow the expected announcement that he was running for president.

Mr. Schaffer, the HBO spokesman, said that apart from Mr. Trump using the phrase, the company prefers that others don’t use it to “promote their own agendas.”

Mr. Trump’s play on the “Thrones” phrase on Friday had a clearly partisan angle. On Friday, his administration reaffirmed sanctions on Iran days before the midterm elections.

On Saturday, a news site tweeted what it said was a response on Instagram from Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, the Iranian leader of the elite Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

The general’s poster also used the “Game of Thrones” font, and his message in Farsi read: “Come! We are waiting, I will stand against you. Quds Force will stand against you. You start this war, but we will finish it.”

The sanctions, promised in May, will target more than 700 businesses, individuals and other entities involved in Iran’s oil, banking, shipping, shipbuilding and insurance sectors. The Trump administration also announced on Friday that it was exempting eight countries from the Nov. 5 deadline for nations to cease importing Iranian goods or face financial penalties.